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need to drink more fluid to compensate for the buckets of sweat you will lose several times every day and night. Equally important, the glass feels really nice pressed against your face or neck during a flash. I have been known to sneak the ice cubes out of my water and slip them down my shirt, and once I actually poured the entire glass down my chest. Luckily, only my hubby was there to see it.

If you do not have air conditioning at home, you will want to seek out air conditioned places in the summer. Go to movies, have your coffee at a cafe, eat lunch out, go to the laundromat if you have to. Heat begets heat. If you are already hot when a flash hits you, and you think there is no possible way you can be any hotter, you are wrong. You will broil. Find cool places and visit them often.

Swimming is a wonderful way to cope with hot flashes. Immersed in cool water, a hot flash can not quite reach its full potential. If it does start to feel unbearable, duck under the water and swim away, keeping cool water running over your body. The water you were occupying has actually been heated by your skin.

Try to avoid spicy foods, if you can. The pleasantly warm sensation in your belly that comes from a spicy meal may well trigger a rolling heat wave all the way up through our head, causing sweat to stand out on your face. I love spicy food, and though it was usually not worth it to risk that tidal wave of heat, when I just had to have that curry, I would prepare carefully. I would close the curtains, strip off my shirt, have a pitcher full of ice water on the table, and set up a fan nearby. My husband thought it was rather comical, but he has always had a twisted sense of humor.

I did not delve into medicinal relief for my hot flashes, since I knew that they were temporary, but there are many over the counter remedies that claim to help alleviate the discomfort. Ginseng, evening primrose oil and bee pollen are some of the natural remedies available, and there are some treatments that combine several herbs specifically for hot flash relief. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for help, or think about visiting a homeopathic doctor.

Though I only lived through this for three short months, I know that I will experience it again. At least I will go into that phase of life prepared, and with some coping strategies. The knowledge that it will be temporary again, although for a much longer time period, is comforting. I will live through it, and so will you. Provided I manage to keep from melting or being arrested for desperately ripping my shirt off in a public place.

Learn more about this author, Sheri Bertaux.
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